‘Nowhere near done,’ Jake replied, giving me a naughty grin before he pulled my nipple into his mouth. I let out a happy sigh, worries fading as he touched me. Once again, it felt like we were the only two people together in the world. Our hotel bubble had gone but we were in another one in Jake’s flat, and I hoped we could keep that bubble around us for a long time.

51

The next three weeks were a whirlwind. I threw myself into working with Simon Langley, focusing mostly on Davis Mulberry as his publishers confirmed they would still bring out his book as planned, and the buzz around it kept on building. Everyone reacted well to him including romance in the thriller, and Jake endorsed it with a quote, along with a few other high-profile authors too. It got great press reviews and from book bloggers, and people on social media kept talking about it. His publishers threw themselves into publicity and retailers started to order even more copies than they had originally.

Davis found it hard to keep his arrogance in check as the buzz built but Simon and I tried to keep his feet on the ground and remind him how close he had come to losing everything. He kept to his word by going sober and I saw a different side to him, one that made me understand why Simon and his girlfriend had stayed in his life.

My relationship with Jake was easier than I could have expected. Now we had told each other how we felt, we were able to be open with one another and enjoy ourselves without being insecure. I loved going to his flat after work to cook dinner together or we’d have a takeaway or go out for a drink then tumble into his bed. We had amazing sex, yes, but we also talked and held each other for hours sometimes. His encouragement of me being honest made me feel like I could tell him everything. And Jake was more vulnerable than any man had been with me before. I knew so much about him already and he didn’t hold back now we were together. So, we seemed to grow closer every day.

Publication day for He’s Behind You came around so quickly, and we were all a mixture of excitement and nerves for it. Davis threw a lavish launch party then did a couple of bookshop events. After that, we had a few days to wait to find out where it had placed on the bestseller lists.

I arranged to meet Liv for lunch on the day we were due to hear. I needed a distraction and Liv was having a day at home writing so came along to keep me company. Davis kept messaging me on the hour every hour asking if I’d heard about the charts yet so I felt like I deserved lunch out.